§ Mr. RedmondTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what are the rights of access to centrally and locally held information of a person who was adopted; what is the statutory basis upon which an adopted person can seek and obtain information about birth and natural parentage; and if he intends to hold any reviews of this procedure.
§ Mr. FreemanSection 51 of the Adoption Act 1976 gives adopted adults the right of access to information on their original birth record. Those adopted before 12 November 1975 must receive counselling before being given this information. There is no statutory right of access to records held by adoption agencies. However, adoption agencies as part of their services will help a person whose adoption the agency has arranged with information about his origins and the circumstances leading to the adoption.
A review of adoption law is planned and the question of access to information will be considered in that review.